Only two of six of the FARC’s top commanders currently in Cuba to negotiate an end Colombia’s 50-year-long war between rebels and state are allowed to take part in politics in the event a peace treaty is signed.
Ricardo TellezNom de guerre: Rodrigo Granda Seuxis HernandezNom de guerre: Jesus Santrich |
The two eligible rebel leaders are “Rodrigo Granda,” the nom de guerre of Ricardo Tellez, and Jesus Santrich, whose real name is Seuxis Hernandez.
All other rebel commanders, including former politician and negotiation leader “Ivan Marquez” are barred from holding public office after the Constitutional Court ratified legislation that disallows all other commanders because of their convictions for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Marquez has been convicted of at least 28 crimes.
Apart from being free of convictions related to crimes against humanity, Gonzalez and Hernandez are also not convicted for drug trafficking, which article 122 of Colombia’s constitution already considers an impediment for participation in politics because it’s deemed an “offense against the public treasury,” Senator Roy Barreras, one of the sponsors of the peace legislation told weekly Semana.
Barreras told Semana that a Constitutional Court ruling on Wednesday allows former guerrilla commanders to take part in politics, but clearly excludes “those who are ultimately responsible” of “all crimes against humanity”
MORE: Colombia’s highest court rules on FARC’s role in politics
The FARC have categorically rejected the “Legal Framework for Peace” that was led through Congress by the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos while negotiations with the country’s largest rebel group were on their way. According to the rebels, the legislation goes against the negotiators’ efforts to secure political participation of the FARC and other groups.
Sources
- ¿Granda y Santrich al Congreso? (Semana)